(OLNEY) Illinois Extension serving Richland, Edwards, Lawrence, Wabash, and Wayne Counties marked the end of the 2025-2026 deer hunting season with the success of the local Hunters Feeding Illinois program with over 2,600 pounds of venison donated to area food pantries to support food access within local communities. While the Hunters Feeding Illinois provides food pantries with ground venison from hunters who’ve donated their legally harvested deer, Illinois Extension facilitates the program in partnership with participating meat processors and with the support of donors, program partners, and deer hunters. This year’s partnering meat processors, Charlie’s Deer Processing and Legacy Meats, both in Lawrence County, processed a total of 83 deer donations during the deer hunting seasons with monetary donations covering the processing cost of each deer. In all, 2,698 pounds of ground venison, an estimated 10,792 servings, were delivered to five food pantries within the Feeding Illinois food bank network in Richland, Lawrence, & Wabash Counties. Extension also provided resources such as cookbooks, hot pads, educational handouts, and more to help food pantry patrons incorporate venison into their meals. To learn more about Hunters Feeding Illinois, visit the Extension website online at go.illinois.edu/HuntersFeedingIllinois, or contact the Edwards County Extension Office in Albion.
